Lorash stopped at the edge of the rock formation where the waves washed only around their ankles, not as deep in the water as she and Seia had been only moments before. Her blush still burned feverishly in her cheeks, particularly when she felt Seia's hand settle low on her hip. The sith stood only a half-step behind her, close enough that Lorash could feel heat against her back. You're imagining things, she told herself, trying to focus on something other than their connection.
She could almost feel Seia's catlike smile as the hand on her hip gripped harder, a reminder of the intensity they had just shared. Lorash swallowed hard and tried to focus. "That ship doesn't look Imperial," she murmured. The spaceship sitting beside Eso's actually looked fairly similar in terms of age and mileage: it was a worn nautolan-style supply ship retrofitted to have a cannon, but its chipped thermal plating and absence of armor suggested that was more deterrent than a real threat. "But I suppose if it's a spy ship…"
"Perhaps the world is not as uninhabited as Eso supposed," Seia commented. Her voice had taken on a different sort of focus, no doubt her roving sense through the Force. "No hostility, only curiosity."
There were a handful of nautolans on the beach now, some greeting Eso while a few small ones played in a tidepool not far away.
Lorash went to step out of their hidden space, but Seia used the shirt she'd taken off to snare the padawan around the waist and pull her back. Suddenly, she was in full contact with the sith's body against her back, strong hands splayed across her midriff. "So eager to leave?" the warrior purred, apparently relaxing into her prior mood without the sign of threat.
"We need to find out…" Lorash couldn't even finish the sentence when she felt Seia's breath hot against the side of her neck, the tip of the sith's tongue tracing a tantalizing pattern across her skin. She shuddered and melted back against Seia, lost in the sensation and that same almost overwhelming presence for a moment. Even knowing the Dark Side was seductive and dangerous, there was no way to escape it around Seia.
Seia's laugh was more felt than heard against her shoulder. "Too easy," the sith murmured, moving her lips to Lorash's ear, hands sliding ever so slowly down the front of the padawan's thighs. "I want a challenge."
"How am I supposed to do that with you—" Lorash started, flustered to the point of being tongue-tied. It was absolutely unfair, the effect that Seia had on her. Her skin burned everywhere the sith was touching her and suddenly clothes felt like too much separation.
Seia flicked her wrist, untangling the shirt that held Lorash in place and slinging it over her own shoulder in a single, deft movement. "I suggest you figure it out, jedi." She left a featherlight bite on Lorash's ear as her farewell, sauntering past the padawan with more of a sway to her step than usual.
Lorash knew she was crimson from ear to ear, jaw dropping at the sudden absence of Seia and all that intoxicating contact. It was a sudden sobriety that left her feeling both bereft and very much motivated to get the sith back.
Seia glanced back over her shoulder, golden eyes so dark and heated that Lorash felt like she was going to combust just meeting them. Her lips quirked into a smirk, clearly very satisfied with the state that Lorash was in. "Coming?"
"Y-yes." Lorash knew the embarrassment of her own stammering was doing her flaming cheeks no favors. She followed Seia and tried to clear her thoughts, but sensation had a way of lingering in the most tantalizing ways. A pang of frustration hit her: how could she be expected to match Seia? The sith no doubt had far more experience with this than Lorash did. Master Vori had been very strict about relationships, not that Lorash had ever felt the desire to pursue one before.
For all the years she had spent learning to cultivate serenity, it was amazing how quickly Seia had come crashing through her.
A soft whisper of thought curled to life as if in answer to that unsettling realization. That is her nature, Lorash. Seia is a maelstrom of passion. You have felt the conflict in the Force near her, have you not? It takes a great deal of training to weather such storms, particularly with her mastery of sense. She can gauge your reactions far better than you can control them. That is how she outmaneuvers you, entices you, traps you. The sith play such games often.
Lorash let her focus shift towards the presence she could feel in the back of her thoughts, reluctantly letting Seia outpace her. Nabeila?
I apologize for disturbing your peace of mind, Lorash. I linger with you still, though only as much as you permit. The Jedi master's voice soothed like a balm, obviously an attempt to calm her.
The padawan's brow furrowed. As much as I permit?
Yes. I am only a part of your internal world. What you perceive of what is outside, I cannot. Allow me to be a source of wisdom, comfort, and strength in difficult times…but know that your mind is still very much your own. I will not intrude where I am not requested.
That answer at least spared Lorash some of her embarrassment. She had to hope that Nabeila hadn't seen the worst of those inner thoughts, the gnawing wonder of what it might have been like if she and Seia hadn't been interrupted and all the decidedly intemperate hopes that came along with it. I suppose you don't approve.
Seia's passion is selfish at its root, motivated by pride and ego, allowed off any tempering chain by the Dark Side power she commands. She is sith. All she has ever known is sating her own desires, frequently at the price of others' deaths and unhappiness. I merely wish you to understand something of the danger she poses. The Jedi teach that love such as that is bound to attachment, and to that attachment, all the miseries of the world are bound.
Lorash felt her heart sink at those words. While it was the same speech Master Vori would have likely given, Nabeila knew Seia better than the padawan herself did. That added a considerable gravity to the certainty in the Jedi Master's voice. But you thought she could be redeemed, didn't you? That's why you saved her.
She felt Nabeila's sigh as a subtle shifting of sorrow in her own heart. The Jedi master admitted, I hoped, but the woman I once thought could be redeemed was not the same as the one I met again in that temple. The words that she spoke before you arrived were…hateful. The betrayals she suffered have embittered her, both the one that resulted in the death of her apprentice and my inability to retrieve her. Her power in the Dark Side has only grown since she used the Sith relic. The conflict in the Force around her has grown. Seia's charm is a weapon of protection and manipulation, more dangerous to you than her lightsaber.
She protected me against the Inquisitor.
Nabeila's voice was gentle. Seia has no love for anyone tampering with her possessions. I do not know what she intends for you, but I doubt corrupting you would concern her. Sith think of even those around them as extensions of their will, means by which they can advance and gratify themselves. Recall how she spoke of you to the inquisitor.
Lorash wished she couldn't remember so clearly, stopping in her tracks. She was lying.
A lie would have been a great risk. Seia is cunning. She would have known that sometimes a well-placed truth is far more effective. Nabeila seemed to sense Lorash's distress, even as Seia advanced further down the beach towards Eso and several nautolans in discussion. I am not saying this to hurt you, Lorash. I want you to be forewarned and careful where you place your trust. Your innocence is a delicate, precious thing. Even being around her will corrode it. She is not ready to change.
"I said I wouldn't abandon her," Lorash whispered, trying to ignore the welling sickness in her stomach. "She still needs me."
You cannot protect her until you protect yourself. Remember your teachings and the Code. Let the wisdom of the Force guide you when things are unclear. And if I am wrong, that is something she must prove. It is never darker than when one's eyes are shut.
Lorash nodded slightly, trying to school herself back into that calm, collected place she had spent so much time learning. She missed Vori intensely in that moment, if mostly for his hugs and words of calm reassurance. The world had seemed much simpler at his side.
Seia had stopped at Eso's side, her wet shirt slung over one shoulder with her boots in her other hand. From a distance, it was clear that she was being pleasant with the two big nautolan men talking to Eso. One of them was eyeing the sith with a speculative look that made an ugly, unfamiliar emotion flare in the pit of Lorash's stomach. As much as Nabeila didn't want her to hook to Seia, she couldn't help really not liking how much of the sith was on display for other eyes. Particularly since she had no guarantee that Seia wouldn't pick one of them to charm instead.
"Hey!" one of the young nautolans chirped at the padawan, scampering over with several others on his heels. "I'm Zeet! Who are you?"
Lorash forced herself to look away. Seia could handle herself, and maybe it was better if the sith found a different person to fixate on for a little while. "I'm a friend," she said, giving the little one a smile that she didn't really feel. "My name is Lorash."
"Do you want to play?" Zeet asked, holding up a worn ball. He and the others were carrying small nets and sticks with a loop at one end. They all watched her with curious, hopeful eyes. "Uxe said it was okay."
As childish as it was, Lorash was immensely grateful for the distraction. "You'll have to teach me how," she said, an answer immediately greeted by a little chorus of cheers. Before she could say another word, she was pulled off by Zeet at her sleeve back towards the tide pools. There were probably two dozen nautolan children around, skirmishing in the water. The rules were fairly simple—get the ball that fit in the loop at the end of the stick into the net on the far side of the pool, without hitting or striking an opponent. Lorash imagined the adolescent version of the game would be rougher.
Eso came over just as she slid into a pool, picking up the shirt she'd wrapped around her lightsaber handle. "Heya, I'll run this, uh, back to the ship for you." He seemed at ease. "Pretty spunky kiddos, huh?"
"Very," Lorash said as Zeet waved over at the small female nautolan currently scaling their wookie. "I thought this world was uncharted."
"They're, uh, keeping a low profile. Ol' Uxe, the grandfather of this lot, has built a haven for refugees here," Eso said. He winked at Zeet. "Don't go too easy on Lorash, buddy. She's a quick learner and she's got a foot and a half of reach on you all."
Lorash stuck out her tongue at Eso, letting the enthusiasm of her new young friends wash away some of her worries. Well, most of them. "Keep Seia out of trouble, Eso."
"She was behaving. She said she was going to lie down, uh, until dinner. I think she's not quite up for guests of this much enthusiasm." Eso seemed more relaxed than he had been in a long time. "We're eating with them and Seia didn't seem, uh, mad about it or anything. Did you guys have a good talk?"
Lorash hesitated slightly, glancing towards the ship. There was no sign of Seia. "I don't know."
Eso shook his head almost despairingly, but didn't comment on it. "Have a good game."
"I will," Lorash promised, letting her focus shift back to Zeet and his friends. After years of using a staff, moving the looped stick with dexterity was easy. "I'll see you at dinner."